Manfrotto 488 Midi Ball Head with RC2 Rapid Connect System review by jcsoniat

Review Date: 1/1/2007

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: None indicated| Rating: 9

Pros:

Strong, Fast, Reliable

Cons:

Can move when locking the ball

Excellent head for the price. I bought mine in a kit with the 3021 BPRO, and it is a great pair. Love the locking pin on the removable plate and the panning base. As the other viewers noted, when using heavy lenses, the head will tilt downward when locking, so you have to compensate.

archaney

Registered: December 2006Posts: 7

Manfrotto 488 Midi Ball Head with RC2 Rapid Connect System review by archaney

Review Date: 12/11/2006

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $100.00| Rating: 10

Pros:

Fast adjustment and quailty construction

Cons:

Not big enough to accurately position a heavy lens

This is an excellect reasonably priced ballhead for an SLR with lens up to medium telephoto level pro-glass. I like this head because it is quick to adjust and doesn't add too much weight to my tripod. It is very simple to operate with one lever for panning and a lock knob for the ball.

I do have trouble with this head when I use my heavy Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 lens. The problem is not with holding the lens but with the lens tilting down slightly between positioning and the ball settleing in to its locked position. The result is that I have to aim the lens slightly above the final position so that it settles where I want it for the photo. The head does not have this problem with any of my other lighter lenses and I would not aniticpate having the problem with a mid-range (up to 120mm) pro glass lens.

If I had it to do over I would have probably saved my money and bought a larger ballhead but only because of the issue of using a heavy long lens.

nikoskard

Registered: November 2006Posts: 17

Manfrotto 488 Midi Ball Head with RC2 Rapid Connect System review by nikoskard

Review Date: 11/18/2006

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: None indicated| Rating: 9

Pros:

Good Build, Fast switching mechanism, holds lot of weight

Cons:

No so accurate.

I use this ball head as my primary "steady shot" equipment, especially with macro lens.

It's very good head, for the money, but don't wait more with long lens. When i connect the 70-200L, although not a heavy lens, you can't put your object in camera very accurate. When you release the lens it makes a little drop down move so you have to target a little bit higher than you need.